Finding the Oppressed

I’m not sure how much attention this is getting in the American media right now, but Al Jazeera has been doing extensive coverage of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the revolution in Iran. There have been documentaries, interviews and live coverage from all over the country, with the purpose of trying to understand the real political and social climate in Iran. Are the people of Iran being stifled by an oppressive government, or is Iran just being demonized by the west? Are the people actually happy?

Coverage from a mall in Tehran showed wealthy, modern women shopping at boutique and designer stores in tight jeans, high-heeled boots and, of course, the obligatory pashmina wrapped around their heads. Except that, their pashminas weren’t really doing anything. Their hair was clearly teased and styled and the pashmina was draped only over the back half of their heads, serving basically no purpose but to meet the requirement that women veil.
I’m almost positive that if I had watched this last year I would have been glad for these women. Despite the current regime in power, Iranian women are still finding ways to express their beauty, femininity, and yes, even to be sexy. It’s the women who are dressed in shapeless burlap bags with only their faces showing that are to be pitied – those girls who aren’t allowed to show even a wisp of hair. But that’s not how I felt last week.

I showed one of my friends the sad excuse for a jilbab that I wear, and she laughed at me, because it’s so scandalous. I drape it over my head, toss one end over my shoulder and let my hair hang out as much as it wants. Oh, and it’s kind of see-through. No one at the pesantren has had any complaints about it. I wear it, because I want to show respect to my community, and that’s all. And I know that they know that.

For girls in the pesantren, covering their hair is a big deal. It’s an outward display of their religious discipline and their modesty. They are taught that their hair is their crown, a gift from God that should only be enjoyed by their future husband. I know for a fact that many of them will continue to wear a jilbab for the rest of their lives, and even if they went to a non-Muslim country where no one else wore one, they would still choose to wear it.

The reality of the situation is that Indonesia is a tropical country. Wearing long-sleeves, long skirts and a jilbab is freaking hot. Like, dripping with sweat hot. Wearing Muslim clothing is not a fun experience, but do I think these girls are oppressed because of their clothing? No more than American women are oppressed, because they have to wear bathing suit tops while men only have to wear shorts. No more than kids who have to wear ugly, outdated school uniforms.

It’s the already “liberated” women that I feel bad for. There were plenty of women shown in Iran dressed similarly to the girls at my school. They wore a full head covering and more modest clothing. I fully support their choice to dress in that way as a symbol of their religion and lifestyle choices, but the women who wear sheer pashminas just for the sake of law clearly don’t care whether or not their hair is showing. And you can bet that if it means nothing to them, they probably don’t want to do it. As breezy and light as some of my pashminas are, I hate all of them. Every single one. I want to cover them with lighter fluid and light a match and watch them burn. They don’t mean a thing to me, and the fact that I still have to wear them, still have to think about them, still have to sweat under them, makes me loathe getting dressed in the morning. Being forced to take part in a cultural/religious tradition that has no meaning to me - that is oppression.

To take a step back, I don’t really know that those women in Iran hate having to cover their heads, but as is the case with me, I think that if they really cared, if they really believed that it was an issue of modesty, then they would actually cover their heads, instead of just doing enough to stay out of trouble. Having to adhere to rules that contradict or are irrelevant to your own feelings and beliefs is oppression. Not being able to fully express yourself, because of someone else’s moral agenda is oppression.

I also can’t say that all of the women who do wear full Muslim dress do so willingly. Patriarchy, which is the real culprit behind this so-called oppression, (religion is only ever a tool) is another issue that I’ll hopefully get to later. Still, I find there to be a striking difference between the social rules that a family or community might enforce and laws that turn rebellious teenagers into criminals. There are plenty of American parents who won’t allow their daughters to leave the house in clothing that they deem to be too revealing, but a miniskirt and a tube-top alone won’t get them 30 lashes from the police.

Because I don’t share the conservative, Muslim idea of modesty, I like to run away from the pesantren on weekends to more liberal (and sometimes Christian) cities to escape my oppression. This weekend I ran away to Salatiga, bought a sundress and wore it around the city. It was a truly liberating experience. It was a pretty hot day, and I enjoyed knowing how much less miserable I was because I wasn’t wearing something on my head or arms or legs. Thank God I have ways to escape.

Only moments ago there was a news report from the Malakand and Swat Valley regions of Pakistan, where local governments have agreed to enforce Shari’a law in accordance with Taliban demands. The report showed clips of celebrating Muslim men, and I wanted to punch every single one of them in the face. Even as I’m typing this I feel so enraged that it’s making me nauseous. I’m tired of dressing like a nun, but at least I’m here by choice. At least I can get away.
What choice do those Pakistani women have? I’ve found that the only choice I have, if I don’t want to sweat under a scarf, is to stay inside and away from the public eye. This only plays further into the hands of the oppressor. They want their women in the kitchen and the bedroom, slaving away to make their lives more comfortable. She finds herself further separated from other discontented women. Should they be allowed to interact, they might find that they have the strength to move together to throw off their oppressors. Instead they find themselves further isolated. And that sucks. It’s almost enough to make you want to pick up an AK-47 and fire back at the bastards. Or start an NGO….something like that.

I’m trying not to project my frustration with Muslim culture onto entire nations. That wouldn’t exactly be fair, but I’m probably doing a poor job of it. I concede that, although I may feel a new connection with and understanding of women in conservative Muslim culture, it is not my place to go pointing out the oppressed and the empowered. That is something that the individual must do for herself (or himself). The most that I can do is to support those who do feel that they are in need of liberation, or take it upon myself to educate those in need of education. For those downtrodden, who live in closed communities, it may not ever occur to them that there is another possible way of life. For there to exist a choice, there must first be options, and the knowledge of options comes with education.

At some point in human history, clothing stopped being about protection from the forces of nature and this silly idea of modesty evolved. A woman with dignity and self-respect would never wear (fill in the blank.) Except that what gets me labeled as a prude in one country gives men the right to jeer at me in another country. Modesty is a social construction to begin with, and the idea that clothing is necessary at all is rather silly. Or for that matter, believing that a few inches of hemline is the difference between a businesswoman and a prostitute.

One of the many reasons I’ve heard for veiling is that men would just not be able to control themselves sexually if women walked around with their hair flowing freely. Except that they can and do. And anyway, if men are the stronger and more intelligent sex, I’d think they would be able to control themselves without women having to suffer. But to go further, I’ve heard young girls in Christian youth groups being told that they should help their struggling Christian brothers by dressing “appropriately” and not tempting them with impure thoughts – so basically, don’t dress like a skank. Is this any more or less ludicrous than the idea that hair would be a distraction? Either way, men and women can learn to control themselves and should be held responsible for their own actions. Sorry Adam. Eve may have tempted you, but in the end, it’s your own damn fault. If you really can’t control yourself, get a blindfold.